Once again, White Coat Waste Project (WCW) has prevailed in its fight against government secrecy about taxpayer-funded animal experiments! The news was first reported on Bloomberg Law.

In two separate lawsuits filed against the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 2017, WCW challenged the agency’s refusal to release certain information about its wasteful and cruel experiments on puppies. The cases involved information about how the Cleveland VA was using tax dollars to buy “friendly” puppies and sever their spines, and the Richmond VA gives hounds heart attacks.

Veterans Affairs will have to release the names of principal investigators accused of carrying out improper experiments on dogs in a lawsuit brought in federal court. https://t.co/vjx3KeheGD

— Bloomberg Law (@BLaw) March 12, 2020

In both cases, the judge ruled in WCW’s favor, citing the immense public interest in the issue. The judge shot down the VA’s repeated attempts to keep the information secret, writing, “The controversy over the experiments at McGuire VAMC have captured widespread public attention and generated media coverage.” WCW was represented in both cases by The Law Office of Matthew Strugar.

WCW’s Tax Season 2019 billboard targeting the now-defunct dog testing lab at the Cleveland VA

Because of WCW’s successful efforts to pry loose documents from secretive federal agencies like the VA and expose waste and abuse to the public, media and Congress, in the past several years our campaign against the VA’s dog labs has scored major wins including ending all dog testing at VA facilities in Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Cleveland, ending “maximum pain” tests on dogs at the Richmond VA, and securing a phaseout of VA dog testing by 2025.